Who knew Eli Manning had what it takes to become a rapper? Well, probably no one until this past weekend.
At the Pro Bowl Games in Orlando, Manning coached the NFC during the skills competition and flag football game. But for a brief moment, it looked like he’d start a career in rapping.
Now, before I tell you what he did, I have to give you some background. There’s this viral YouTube clip featuring “Supa Hot Fire,” a stage name for a guy who did parody rap battles (his real name is DeShawn Raw).
The clip below features the video that went viral over a decade ago, and which produced one of the most widely used gifs of all time (watch from the 1:06-1:20 mark for the best part).
So now that you’ve seen that, you can better appreciate Manning’s “performance” at the Pro Bowl.
Supa Hot himself showed up in Orlando to battle Manning. The entire interaction is here, and it’s certainly worth a 5-minute watch.
But the best part of the video came when Manning used his NFL career as inspiration for his lyrics. And boy, was it great.
The crowd watched with anticipation as Manning prepared to counter a verse from Supa Hot.
“I’m Eli Manning, I’m nice,” he started.
That kind of fell flat, and he got little response from those around him. Supa Hot himself didn’t look all that impressed.
But boy did Manning make up for it with his next two lines.
“Tom Brady’s the G.O.A.T. Sike, I beat him twice!” Manning screamed.
The NFL stars absolutely lost their minds after hearing these bars. Micah Parsons rolling on the turf was easily the best reaction.
Eventually, Supa Hot won the battle thanks to some questionable officiating. But Manning won the day among NFL fans.
Even as a New England Patriots fan, I find this downright hilarious. Sure, Manning’s two victories he mentioned were my first core memories of being a Patriots fan, and those memories suck.
But even I have to appreciate art when I see it. By all accounts, this was absolute fire.
